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August 1, 2019 <br />Ramsey County Court Administration <br />15 West Kellogg Boulevard Room 170 <br />St. Paul, MN 55102 <br />Court File Number 62-CV-19-4965 <br />Re: In the Matter of the Petition to Remove Brian Amundsen <br />The Honorable John H Guthmann, <br />Your Honor, <br />Thank you for allowing a hearing on the matter of the Mounds View Charter Commission <br />(Commission) Membership and my removal as a commissioner.. I apologize for the lateness of this pre - <br />hearing document. My wife's family from England arrived July IS, the day I received the city's letter <br />without attachments, a long planned visit with us in our home. They just left July 30 causing the delay <br />in this response. <br />I ask the Court to deny the request for removal, dismiss the case, and notify all parties the matter is <br />closed on the basis the request has no statutory basis and facts to support the request. <br />I note for the Court that the request in the cities letter (Letter) dated July 11, 2019 has not listed a <br />statutory reference, and calls the request for removal "unprecedented", The only statutory authority to <br />request a removal is listed in MN Statute 410.05 Subdivision 2, which states: <br />"Any member may be removed at any time from office, by written order of the district court, <br />the reason for such removal being stated in the order. When any member has failed to perform <br />the duties of office and has failed to attend four consecutive meetings without being excused by <br />the commission, the secretary of the charter commission shall file a certificate with the court <br />setting forth those facts and the district court shall thereupon make its order of removal and the <br />chief judge shall fill the vacancy created thereby." <br />The commission secretary has not filed any certificate with the court because the statutory requirements <br />have not been met. in my opinion "at any time" simply means the removal can occur at any time <br />during the duration of a commissioner's term if both abode conditions are met. It does state or imply <br />that removal could be for any reason. <br />I disagree and deny a majority of the statement in the Letter. For example the Letter: <br />• fails to show any criteria existing under 410.05 to require court removal <br />• incorrectly states "full complement of commission members" as a requirement for the <br />commission to function and conduct commission business. <br />• incorrectly states that the Council sets the direction for the commission goals and policy <br />• incorrectly states meeting dates <br />• incorrectly suggests my intent at meetings <br />• incorrectly characterizes public input (all 12 comments support Jonathan Thomas and me <br />remaining on the Commission) <br />• presents incomplete data of Commission membership and reasons for members not re -applying <br />Case File: 62-CV-19-4965 <br />Pagel of 3 <br />